Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 75%. If products listed have an LVR <80%, they will be clearly identified in the product name along with the specific LVR. The product and rate must be clearly published on the Product Provider’s web site. Introductory rate products were not considered for selection. Monthly repayments were calculated based on the selected products’ advertised rates, applied to a $400,000 loan with a 30-year loan term. Rates correct as at 01 June 2020. View disclaimer.

Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, principal & interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. If products listed have an LVR <80%, they will be clearly identified in the product name along with the specific LVR. The product and rate must be clearly published on the product provider’s web site. Introductory rate products were not considered for selection. Monthly repayments were calculated based on the selected products’ advertised rates, applied to a $400,000 loan with a 30-year loan term. Rates correct as at 01 June 2020. View disclaimer.

Everyone’s heard of thebig four banks, as well as the likes of ING, Macquarie, Bendigo Bank and so on. But had you ever heard of Coastline Credit Union? The Capricornian? Lithuanian Co-operative Credit Society “Talka” Limited?

No, those aren’t local rugby teams – they’re customer-owned banks, also known as mutual banks. And just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean you should write them off as your potential lender.

In this article, we’ll go through the basics of customer-owned banks: what they are, who the biggest ones are, what kinds of loans they offer, and how they compare to some of the other prominent banks in the market.

What is a customer-owned bank?

Customer-owned banks are ADIs that are owned and operated with the sole purpose of providing banking services to members (i.e. customers) rather than generating a profit. In other words, they don’t have shareholders and instead reinvest profits either back into the bank itself or into the community.

In terms of products they can offer, there’s no real difference between mutual banks and retail banks – they can all offer home loans,credit cards, deposit products and more.

In recent years, banking with a mutual bank has become more and more popular. According to the latest data from end of financial year reports, the combined market share of the big four is down nearly 1%, while a 2019 report from KPMG found customer-owned banks actually increased their residential lending portfolio by 7.3% that year. Mutuals have about $125 billion in total assets combined, which is about 2.5% of the total banking market.

This isn’t a whole lot, but is a marked gain on previous numbers when you consider the sheer size of the big four and other retail banks. More recent research from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) found the major banks grew by their lending by 2.6% in 2019, for comparison.

“Australians want, and deserve, to be put first by their bank. Thankfully there’s an entire sector with a 150-year legacy of doing just that.

“These figures are a positive indicator of improving competition, but now is not the time to become complacent. If greater customer outcomes are the goal, then greater competition is the means.”

In the words of Mr Lawrence and the customer-owned banks themselves, the fact that they’re not for profit means they can pass on better rates and fees to their customers, while also offering better service. This is sometimes true, but not always, and we’ll explore just how good the interest rates from mutual banks really are.

Who are the customer-owned banks?

There are more than 70 customer-owned banks in Australia, from large customer-owned institutions that operate nationally, to tiny little coastal credit unions dedicated to serving the local township’s inhabitants. While not all mutual banks will be on there, COBA has a list of each of its64 member institutions here.

CUA

Founded in 1946, CUA – short for Credit Union Australia – has grown to become the country’s largest customer-owned bank, offering financial and insurance products to over 500,000 Australians. CUA is based in Brisbane and was named the “Most Innovative Mutual” by the Australian Banking Innovation Awards 2019.

In 2019, CUA had more than $17 billion in total assets.

Newcastle Permanent

Newcastle Permanent is the second-largest customer-owned bank in Australia and touts itself as an alternative to the big banks. It has over 300,000 customers and nearly 1,000 staff, and given the name, it is unsurprisingly based in Newcastle.

In 2019, Newcastle Permanent had nearly $11 billion in total assets.

Heritage Bank

Based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Heritage Bank originally began as the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society in 1875. It changed its name to Heritage Bank in 2011 but remains one of the oldest financial institutions in Australia (still standing).

In 2019, Heritage Bank had about $10 billion in total assets.

People’s Choice Credit Union

People’s Choice Credit Union, or People’s Choice for short, has more than 360,000 members across Australia. It began in 1949 but became what it is today after the merger of Australian Central and Savings & Loans in December 2009.

Its headquarters are in Adelaide, and Roy Morgan named it the country’s best credit union in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2019, People’s Choice had more than $8 billion in total assets.

Teachers Mutual Bank

Based in Homebush, NSW, Teachers Mutual Bank was created in 1966 by teachers for teachers as Teachers Credit Union. It’s now available to everyone, and has over 200,000 members across the country, making it one of Australia’s largest mutual banks.

In 2019, Teachers Mutual Bank had about $8 billion in total assets. It also owns Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank and UniBank.

Greater Bank

Greater Bank began as the Newcastle and Hunter River Public Service Starr-Bowkett Building Co-operative Society Limited, or NHRPSSBBCSL as you might know it. It changed its name to Greater Bank in 2016, and today claims to have more than 250,000 customers.

In 2019, Greater Bank had nearly $7 billion in total assets, and is based in Newcastle NSW.

Bank Australia

Bank Australia was first established in 1957 as CSIRO Co-operative Credit Society, before rebranding to Bank Australia in 2015. Over its history it has unified 72 credit unions, eventually becoming Australia’s first customer-owned bank. As a ‘responsible lender’, Bank Australia does not lend to industries operating in:

Fossil Fuels

Live exports

Gambling

Intensive animal farming

Weapons

Tobacco

Bank Australia’s headquarters are in Kew, Victoria, and it has more than 400 staff and over 125,000 customers. Bank Australia also had about $6 billion in total assets in 2019.

Beyond Bank

Beyond Bank Australia, or just Beyond Bank, is headquartered in Adelaide. It’s 100% customer-owned and became so in 2013, and is comprised of other institutions such as My Credit Union, Country First Credit Union, Alliance One, Wagga Mutual Credit Union and more.

In 2019, Beyond Bank had just over $6 billion in total assets. It also has nearly 250,000 customers, 40+ branches and a national Australian-based call centre.

IMB

Based in Wollongong, IMB was established way back in 1880 as Illawarra Mutual Building Society and is one of Australia’s biggest mutuals. IMB has over 200,000 members and a growing branch network in Illawarra, Sydney, NSW South Coast, the ACT and Melbourne, whereas many other mutual banks tend to be more online-focused.

In 2019, IMB had just over $6 billion in total assets.

P&N Bank

P&N Bank is the only West-Australian bank in the top 10, based in Perth. This makes it the largest bank-owned and managed in Western Australia. The P&N stands for police and nurses – it originally began in 1969, but the merger of Police Credit Society and the Nurses Credit Society led it to be named the Police & Nurses Credit Society

P&N Bank had just over $4 billion in total assets in 2019.

What home loans do customer-owned banks offer?

Customer-owned banks are plentiful, as the data above shows, and the larger ones are able to offer home loans for all sorts of different circumstances:

How do the customer-owned banks’ rates and fees compare to other lenders?

Customer-owned banks can offer some great value home loans with low interest rates and fees, but remember there are thousands and thousands of home loan products on the market. What you can see in the tables above don’t tell the full picture – not all customer-owned bank home loans products will have rates as low as the ones displayed.

Don’t automatically assume customer-owned banks offer the best rates on the market just because they say they do. It’s very possible (probable) that there are better rates out there, so broaden your search to include some of these other types of lenders too. Theseother types of lenders include:

The big four banks: The big four banks –ANZ,Commonwealth Bank,NABandWestpac– take up much of the home loan market in Australia as we discussed before, and have more than $1 trillion in assets under management together.

Retail banks: Some of the biggest retail banks outside of the big four also have billions and billions of loans and assets under management, such as the likes ofING, Macquarie Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, HSBC, AMP and more.

Neobanks: there’s been a spate of new fintech ‘digital’ or ‘neo’ banks popping up lately such asUp,86 400andJudo Bank, which claim to be fast and cheap online alternatives to banking. While few of them offer home loans at the moment, they have stated they plan to do so in the near future. 86 400, for example, recently announced the release of its broker-based home loan products.

The table below displays a selection of variable-rate home loans on offer, featuring a low-rate pick from each of the following three categories: the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned banks, and the larger non-banks.

Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. If products listed have an LVR <80%, they will be clearly identified in the product name along with the specific LVR. The product and rate must be clearly published on the Product Provider’s web site. Introductory rate products were not considered for selection. Monthly repayments were calculated based on the selected products’ advertised rates, applied to a $400,000 loan with a 30-year loan term. Rates correct as at 01 June 2020. View disclaimer.

Customer-owned bank home loans – pros and cons

No bank is perfect. Here are the various pros and cons of banking with a customer-owned institution:

Cons

You might struggle to get approved – their smaller size means many mutual banks only take customers with good credit ratings and a strong deposit

If you can’t meet these conditions, you might have to pay a much higher interest rate

Smaller lenders might have fewer loan options

The very small ones might rely on branch banking with sub-par online offerings – mainly due to a lack of resources

With the cash rate as low as it is, smaller lenders might struggle to pass on future rate cuts to home loans

Savings.com.au’s two cents

There are alternatives to the big banks out there. In fact, nearly 100 authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) are registered with APRA, plus a number of non-bank lenders offering home loans.

Customer-owned banking is growing in popularity, and with competition so strong at the moment, now could be a good time to open a new home loan with one or refinance from your existing lender.

Consider consulting a mortgage broker too if you need help choosing the right home loan.

Disclaimers

The entire market was not considered in selecting the above products. Rather, a cut-down portion of the market has been considered which includes retail products from at least the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned institutions and Australia’s larger non-banks:

The larger non-bank lenders are those who (in 2019) has more than $9 billion in Australian funded loans and advances. These groups are: Resimac, Pepper, Liberty and Firstmac.

Some providers' products may not be available in all states. To be considered, the product and rate must be clearly published on the product provider's web site.

In the interests of full disclosure, Savings.com.au and loans.com.au are part of the Firstmac Group. To read about how Savings.com.au manages potential conflicts of interest, along with how we get paid, please click through onto the web site links.

*The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

William Jolly
William Jolly joined Savings.com.au as a Financial Journalist in 2018, after spending two years at financial research firm Canstar. In William's articles, you're likely to find complex financial topics and products broken down into everyday language. He is deeply passionate about improving the financial literacy of Australians and providing them with resources on how to save money in their everyday lives.

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